Harley-Davidson museum moving to Destination Daytona

Thursday

Jun 13, 2013 at 8:39 PMJun 13, 2013 at 10:43 PM

While the museum will relocate, a new Harley-Davidson store will open in the 500 block of Main Street.

EILEEN ZAFFIRO-KEANSTAFF WRITER

DAYTONA BEACH — The Bruce Rossmeyer Harley-Davidson museum and store that has given the struggling north end of Beach Street a lift for years is going to close its doors in about six months. The museum will relocate to the Destination Daytona complex off Interstate 95 just outside Ormond Beach, and a new Harley-Davidson store will open in the 500 block of Main Street, said Shelly Rossmeyer Pepe, general manager at Bruce Rossmeyer's Daytona Harley-Davidson. While the news is a hit to downtown that one nearby merchant called "devastating," it brought smiles to Main Street business owners. "Wow," said Denny Honeycutt, owner of Froggy's Saloon and president of the Main Street Merchants Association. "I like it. I'm glad." With the Rossmeyer Harley-Davidson operation's lease for the building at 290 N. Beach St. up for renewal at the end of the year, the decision was made a few months ago to start a new chapter, Rossmeyer Pepe said. "Our option was to come to Destination Daytona and go with the original plan our dad had, which was to move it up here," said Rossmeyer Pepe, daughter of the late Bruce Rossmeyer. The museum relocation seemed like the way to go because feedback from customers shows they've quickly come to love the 8-year-old Destination Daytona location, where patrons can buy a motorcycle or T-shirt, get a bite at a restaurant or drink at a pub, listen to a live band and stay the night in a hotel or condo on the 150-acre site, Rossmeyer Pepe said. "It's very, very positive for us," she said. Some Main Street business owners are happy to hear the Daytona Harley operation will also have a presence on their road. "I think it's good news," said Dan Webster, a member of the Main Street Redevelopment Area Board. "Anything to fill up the storefronts." Honeycutt said he thinks "it's a blessing to Main Street" but is afraid it's going to wound an already ailing Beach Street. Indeed, the news was a blow to some on the west side of the Halifax River. "The loss of Harley-Davidson will be devastating to the community," said Tom Myers, owner of Rhokkoh's Frozen Yogurt on Beach Street. "I can't imagine what will come close to replacing that." Myers worries about more empty buildings and vacant lots — including the demolished car dealerships near his shop — and one less place to pull customers toward him. It's unclear what will come next for the downtown Harley building that has been at the heart of biker parties since the 1990s. "The ownership is evaluating the options and has not decided on a course of action," said Dwight Selby, president of Ormond Beach commercial real estate firm Selby Realty, who's representing the building's owner, Burgoyne Properties. Burgoyne Properties owns a large cluster of buildings on Beach Street north of International Speedway Boulevard. Al Smith, chairman of the city's Downtown Ballough Road Redevelopment Area Board, said the north Beach Street area is targeted for residential uses in the city's master plan. But with several other motorcycle dealers still in the North Beach Street corridor, private homes there could be more a long-term development, Smith said. What is certain is the Rossmeyers' decision marks the end of an era. The Beach Street location is where the Rossmeyer family's Harley-Davidson empire began before growing into multiple dealerships in multiple states. Bruce Rossmeyer, who died in a motorcycle crash in 2009, was a car dealer who started the Daytona Harley dealership and had the Beach Street building designed for his business. Rossmeyer and his business never owned the building, and had just leased it since it went up on the riverfront in 1994. The Beach Street dealership closed in April 2011 to be revamped into a hybrid motorcycle history museum and store. It reopened several months later, selling T-shirts and other Harley-Davidson memorabilia year-round and selling motorcycles during Biketoberfest and Bike Week. The motorcycle museum has taken up about 5,000 square feet of the building and featured historic 1914 and 1916 motorcycles from the Rossmeyers' private collection, displays about the history of Harley-Davidson and a re-creation of the late Bruce Rossmeyer's original office. "We had a lot of day-to-day traffic, but overall sales didn't outweigh expenses," Rossmeyer Pepe said. Rossmeyer Pepe said all those museum pieces will move to the second floor of the 109,000-square-foot Harley dealership at Destination Daytona. Because the existing museum and store will remain open through the end of this year, that new museum probably won't open until the end of 2014, she said. The new store will be in renovated space at 510 Main St., and will mainly feature T-shirts, other clothing, coffee mugs and shot glasses, and will be open about five or six days a week. The local Harley operation had rented space in another Main Street building until late last year. "We're excited about it," Rossmeyer Pepe said.